Australia Weekly Property Market Report - Week Ending 23 August 2026

Melbourne Holds Above 60% as Late-Winter Stock Builds, but Buyers Retain the Upper Hand

Executive Summary

Australia’s residential auction market took another step towards the spring selling season over the weekend ending Sunday, 23 August 2026. More properties were taken to auction across most major cities, but the lift in activity did not translate into stronger results everywhere. Clearance rates remained well below where they stood at the same time last year.

The clearest story from this Australia Weekly Property Market Report is the widening gap between Melbourne and several other capital-city markets. The Melbourne Property Market pushed its reported clearance rate back above 60%, helped by stronger performances in the Outer East, northern suburbs and the Melbourne Unit Market. The Sydney Housing Market was comparatively steady, while conditions weakened sharply in the Brisbane Property Market and Canberra Property Market.

Across the major capitals, My Housing Market reported an average clearance rate of 46.7%. That was down from 51.8% the previous week and significantly below the 66.9% recorded at the same point last year. At the same time, auction volumes increased in most cities as more vendors began preparing campaigns ahead of spring.

Melbourne scheduled 570 auctions and recorded a 60.2% clearance rate. While that was a modest improvement on the previous week’s 59.2%, it remained well below the 76.5% achieved a year earlier. The combined reported auction median was $917,000, with houses recording a median of $967,500 and units $725,000.

Sydney scheduled 631 auctions and returned a 58.1% clearance rate. Its median auction price was approximately $1.604 million. The median result for houses fell to $1.8 million, placing it 7.1% below the corresponding week last year.

Brisbane produced a much weaker result. From 153 scheduled auctions, My Housing Market reported a clearance rate of just 20.8%. Domain’s separate preliminary figures painted a similar picture, recording a 21% clearance rate from 96 reported auctions, including 60 pass-ins and 16 withdrawals.

The Adelaide Property Market recorded a 50.7% clearance rate from 108 auctions, while Canberra fell to 43.7% from 56 scheduled auctions.

Price conditions across the broader Australian Housing Market also remain soft. REA Group’s PropTrack Home Price Index recorded a fourth consecutive monthly national decline in July. That is an important reminder that an improvement in auction clearance rates should not automatically be interpreted as an increase in property prices.

There has, however, been an improvement in buyer sentiment. Following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to hold the cash rate at 4.35% on 11 August, the Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 6% in August. Its measure of whether it was a good time to buy a home climbed 12.1%, with sentiment among mortgage holders improving particularly strongly.

Even so, the Australian Property Market has not shifted decisively back in favour of sellers. The picture is more nuanced. Buyers appear increasingly willing to transact, but they remain disciplined about price. Vendors whose expectations reflect current market conditions are securing sales, while aspirational reserves continue to lead to withdrawals, pass-ins and longer campaigns.

The evidence points to a more nuanced late-winter market, with buyers becoming more willing to transact while remaining disciplined on price.

Weekly Market Snapshot

The latest Australia Weekly Property Market Report shows a mixed set of Auction Clearance Rates Australia, with substantial differences between individual capital cities.

• Melbourne: 570 auctions, 60.2% clearance rate and a $917,000 combined median. Houses recorded a 59% clearance rate at a $967,500 median, while units recorded 61.2% at $725,000.
• Sydney: 631 auctions, 58.1% clearance rate and a $1.604 million combined median.
• Brisbane: 153 auctions and a 20.8% clearance rate.
• Adelaide: 108 auctions and a 50.7% clearance rate.
• Canberra: 56 auctions and a 43.7% clearance rate.
• National major-capital average: 46.7%, compared with 51.8% last week and 66.9% one year ago.

These Auction Clearance Rates Australia figures provide a useful snapshot of the week, but differences in reporting methods mean they should be read alongside the underlying market data.

A Note on CoreLogic, Cotality, PropTrack and Preliminary Results

There is an important data point to clarify before looking more closely at the individual markets.

CoreLogic’s Australian property-data business is now Cotality. As a result, Cotality is the relevant provider when current results are being compared with historical figures previously published under the CoreLogic name.

When this Australia Weekly Property Market Report was prepared early Monday, Cotality had not yet published its fully finalised results for the week ending 23 August. Using an incomplete Cotality result as though it were final would therefore be misleading.

The same caution applies to realestate.com.au. Early Monday morning, its national results page had 530 Victorian, 551 NSW, 196 Queensland, 79 South Australian, 45 ACT and 19 Western Australian auction results available. Those clearance rates were explicitly described as preliminary and subject to further reporting.

PropTrack, REA Group’s property-data and analytics business, provides another view of prices and demand. Its latest completed Home Price Index showed Australian prices falling for a fourth consecutive month in July.

There are also differences in how providers account for withdrawals, properties sold before auction and results that have not yet been reported. Rather than treating one headline clearance rate as definitive, this report therefore focuses on the direction emerging across multiple datasets.

Melbourne and Victoria

The Melbourne Property Market delivered one of the stronger major-capital auction performances of the week.

Melbourne scheduled 570 auctions and recorded a 60.2% clearance rate, edging above the previous week’s 59.2%. On its own, that weekly improvement looks encouraging. Put against the 76.5% recorded during the corresponding week of 2025, however, the market remains considerably weaker than it was a year ago.

That year-on-year comparison is important.

A clearance rate around 60% represents a considerably healthier market than the sub-50% conditions experienced during parts of winter, but it does not suggest that Melbourne has returned to last year’s intense seller competition.

The Melbourne Auction Results also varied considerably depending on location.

Melbourne’s Outer East was one of the strongest areas, recording a 70.7% clearance rate. The northern region followed at 66.7%, while the Inner South achieved 64.3%. By contrast, the Inner East recorded only 46.8%.

That difference between submarkets says more about current conditions than the city-wide figure alone.

Premium suburbs are not automatically producing better results. Higher purchase prices require larger mortgages, making buyers more exposed to changes in borrowing capacity. Purchasers operating at the premium end of the market may also have greater flexibility to wait rather than compromise on a property or price.

More affordable, family-oriented areas, by comparison, can draw from a wider pool of potential buyers.

Melbourne Units Continue to Outperform Houses

One of the more consistent patterns in recent Melbourne Auction Results has been the relative strength of units.

Houses recorded a 59% clearance rate from 307 reported results. Units performed slightly better, clearing at 61.2% from 49 results.

There was also a substantial difference in price. The median house auction result was $967,500, compared with $725,000 for units.

Industry reporting shows that units have now outperformed houses at auction in three of the past four weeks. Another recent preliminary dataset showed a similar pattern, with units recording approximately 62% compared with 51.3% for houses.

Affordability appears to be the main driver.

Higher interest rates have reduced maximum borrowing capacity. As a result, some purchasers who may previously have targeted detached houses are shifting towards townhouses, villa units and apartments instead.

That change is particularly relevant to first-home buyers.

Recent lending data indicates that first-home buyer mortgage applications increased approximately 10% in early August, while broader mortgage demand remained considerably softer.

For vendors, this means lower-priced stock may have access to a larger pool of purchasers than a considerably more expensive family home. It also helps explain why the Melbourne Unit Market has been relatively resilient despite softer conditions across the broader city market.

Melbourne Median Auction Prices

The combined Melbourne auction median for the week was $917,000.

The house median increased from $910,000 the previous week to $967,500. While that weekly movement may appear significant, the longer comparison tells a different story. The latest median remained approximately 15.5% below the $1.145 million recorded during the corresponding week last year.

For anyone assessing Melbourne house prices, the annual comparison is therefore more meaningful than the week-to-week rise.

Auction medians can move sharply from one week to another depending on which suburbs and property types make up that week’s sales. If a larger share of premium properties goes under the hammer, for example, the median can rise even when the wider market has not experienced any meaningful price growth.

The annual decline demonstrates the extent to which Melbourne’s market has repriced. 

For vendors, this reinforces a practical point: comparable sales from last year may no longer provide the best benchmark for what buyers can afford today.

Notable Melbourne Auction Sales

Even against that broader correction, Melbourne continued to produce some substantial individual results.

The highest reported auction sale was 22 Ridgeway Avenue, Kew, which sold for $3.92 million.

Other major reported transactions included:

• 86 Delbridge Street, Fitzroy North — $2.91 million.
• 26 Eltham Street, Flemington — $2.6 million.
• 75 Market Street, Kensington — $2.5 million.
• 149 Ogilvie Street, Essendon — $2.26 million.
• 8 Tandarook Crescent, Donvale — $2.203 million.
• 54 Croydon Road, Surrey Hills — $2.105 million.
• 32 Schafter Drive, Doncaster East — $2.1 million.

At the opposite end of the price spectrum, a one-bedroom unit in Burwood sold at auction for $215,000.

That enormous spread in sale prices highlights the breadth of the Melbourne Property Market.

Importantly, these premium sales should not be read as evidence that high-end housing has broadly recovered. They show instead that an individual property can still attract strong competition when it offers scarcity, land, architectural appeal or an exceptional location, even when metropolitan averages remain weaker.

A Buyer’s Market – But Not for Every Property

Melbourne’s current results highlight a distinction that is becoming increasingly important.

A market can broadly favour buyers and still produce fiercely competitive auctions for individual homes.

A well-priced property that attracts several genuine purchasers can still sell substantially above reserve. A similar property nearby may receive little or no genuine bidding if its reserve is set beyond current buyer expectations.

In many cases, the difference is the way the campaign is positioned rather than the suburb itself.

That is why inspection numbers alone can give vendors a misleading sense of demand. Contract requests, second inspections, building inspections and confirmed auction registrations provide much stronger evidence that potential buyers are genuinely preparing to transact.

Sydney and New South Wales

The Sydney Housing Market was relatively steady over the week, but the gap between current conditions and those seen a year ago remains substantial.

Sydney scheduled 631 auctions and recorded a 58.1% clearance rate. The previous week’s result was 58.5%, so there was little movement week to week. A year earlier, however, the clearance rate stood at 79.5%.

Domain’s separate preliminary figures provide further context. Of 631 scheduled auctions, 372 outcomes had been reported. These included 200 sales, 114 withdrawals and 58 pass-ins, resulting in a clearance rate of 54%.

Domain reported an auction median of $1.6035 million.

The number of withdrawals is particularly notable.

Nearly one-third of Domain’s reported Sydney outcomes were withdrawn. This suggests that many vendors and agents would still rather remove an under-supported campaign from auction than allow the property to experience a visible public pass-in.

Price results also reflect the softer Sydney Housing Market. The house auction median fell to $1.8 million, which was 7.1% below the corresponding week last year. Units recorded a median of $1.1145 million.

As in Melbourne, there was considerable variation between individual Sydney regions.

The Lower North recorded an 81.1% clearance rate, while the Central Coast achieved 83.3%. Sydney’s West, on the other hand, recorded just 38.7%.

The latest Sydney Auction Results therefore reinforce how much can be hidden by a single city-wide clearance rate.

Notable Sydney Sales

Several high-value properties still changed hands despite those softer conditions.

The highest reported auction result was a five-bedroom home at 14 Rickard Street, Carlingford, which sold for $4,480,888.

Other strong Sydney Auction Results included Northbridge at $3.59 million, Lane Cove and Castle Hill at $3.3 million, and Enfield at $3.24 million.

At the prestige end of the market, a Mosman trophy home associated with a previous visit by Justin Bieber reportedly sold privately for around $30 million. It was the highest Mosman sale of 2026 to date.

These transactions sit in sharp contrast to Sydney’s broader clearance figures. They demonstrate how scarcity in the prestige market can produce outcomes that operate largely independently of the wider mortgage-driven market.

Brisbane

The Brisbane Property Market produced the weakest auction performance among the major capitals this week.

My Housing Market reported a clearance rate of 20.8% from 153 auctions. That was a steep fall from the previous week’s 29.5% and less than half the 41.9% recorded a year earlier.

Domain’s separate figures were remarkably close.

Of 153 scheduled auctions, 96 results had been reported. Only 20 had sold, while 60 were passed in and 16 were withdrawn. That produced a 21% clearance rate.

The reported median auction price was $1.14 million.

The number of pass-ins stands out. Almost two-thirds of the reported Brisbane auctions failed to sell.

That does not mean the Brisbane Property Market as a whole has collapsed.

Brisbane remains predominantly a private-treaty market, which means auctions account for a relatively small share of total transactions. Auction results therefore provide only a partial view of the city’s wider housing market.

They do, however, show that vendors choosing the auction route are currently finding it difficult to create enough competitive tension to achieve a sale.

Brisbane’s strongest reported auction transaction was 7 Lonsdale Street, Ascot, at $5.25 million. An Auchenflower property followed at $3.225 million.

Adelaide

The Adelaide Property Market recorded 108 scheduled auctions and a 50.7% clearance rate this week.

That was down from 52.9% the previous week and remained below the 63.7% recorded a year earlier.

The latest result adds to evidence that Adelaide is gradually moving away from the extremely tight market conditions that previously characterised the South Australian capital.

The highest reported auction sale was 116 North Street, Henley Beach, at $2.34 million. This was followed by Beaumont at $2.2 million and Mile End at $1.7 million.

The Adelaide Property Market continues to benefit from comparatively tight housing supply, population growth and lower prices than Sydney.

Affordability has nevertheless deteriorated following several years of rapid growth. Buyers are therefore becoming more selective, with both the quality of a property and its asking price carrying increasing weight in purchasing decisions.

Canberra

The Canberra Property Market weakened substantially over the week.

Canberra scheduled 56 auctions and recorded a clearance rate of 43.7%, down from 58.9% the previous week and 72.9% a year earlier.

Because Canberra has a relatively small number of auctions, its weekly clearance rate can fluctuate more significantly than those of larger capital-city markets.

The highest reported sale was 42 Araba Street, Aranda, at $2.225 million. This was followed by Kaleen at $1.31 million and Wright at $1.1 million.

Stable government employment continues to provide support to the Canberra Property Market. Even so, buyers face the same mortgage-serviceability pressures affecting purchasers in Melbourne and Sydney.

Perth and Tasmania

Perth remains predominantly a private-treaty market. Tasmania had just one auction result compared with 138 private transactions.

Realestate.com.au had only 19 Western Australian auction results available early Monday, compared with 341 private sales.

Tasmania recorded an even greater difference, with just one auction result compared with 138 private transactions.

For that reason, weekly auction statistics offer little useful information about the Perth Property Market or Tasmania.

Listing supply, days on market, discounting and private-treaty transaction volumes provide more useful indicators of what is happening in these markets.

For the Perth Property Market in particular, those measures are more informative than attempting to draw conclusions from such a small auction sample.

Regional Victoria

Conditions across the Regional Victoria Property Market continue to differ from those in metropolitan Melbourne.

Affordability, lifestyle appeal and diversified employment remain supportive factors for Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo. These regional centres are not, however, insulated from higher interest rates and the resulting pressure on borrowing capacity.

The latest regional sales reporting identified an Ocean Grove property as the highest reported sale across country Victoria and the Riverina during the week ending 22 August.

Geelong

The Geelong Property Market remains highly segmented, with conditions varying significantly by location and property type.

A four-bedroom house in Anglesea was the highest-priced reported transaction across the wider Geelong region during the week.

Another notable result came from 71 Normanby Street, East Geelong, where a renovated five-bedroom property sold at auction for $1.15 million.

The property attracted bidding from both a local family and a Melbourne buyer, despite a substantial reduction in the number of Geelong auction campaigns.

Only around 21 auctions were reportedly scheduled across a broader local market containing approximately 3,350 listed properties.

East Geelong’s median house value was reported to be approximately 11% higher over the year at $877,000.

The sale at Normanby Street highlights the ongoing appeal of established, renovated family homes. Buyers appear particularly willing to compete where a property offers immediate liveability, convenient access to shops and schools, and limited renovation risk.

At the same time, the very small number of auctions means auction figures alone are not a reliable measure of the Geelong Property Market. Private-treaty transactions provide a much broader indication of overall activity.

Ballarat

A three-bedroom property in Smythes Creek was the highest-priced reported Ballarat-area transaction during the week ending 22 August.

The Ballarat Property Market continues to benefit from several longstanding advantages: entry prices remain lower than in Melbourne, rail links are well established, and employment is spread across healthcare, education and government.

That does not mean buyers are ignoring property condition or price.

The preferences currently visible in Melbourne are increasingly evident in regional markets as well. Turnkey homes are attracting stronger interest, while properties requiring substantial renovation or energy-efficiency improvements are more likely to face negotiation.

Buyers are increasingly accounting for those future costs before deciding what they are prepared to offer.

The Ballarat Property Market should therefore remain comparatively resilient, but regional affordability should not be mistaken for an absence of price sensitivity.

Bendigo

A five-bedroom property in Golden Square was the highest-priced reported Bendigo transaction during the latest weekly reporting period.

The Bendigo property market remains predominantly a private-treaty market. 

Its longer-term fundamentals continue to be supported by a diverse employment base spanning healthcare, education, government, finance and professional services.

Affordable family suburbs and properties located close to central Bendigo remain well positioned.

For investors, however, broader population growth should not be treated as a substitute for assessing an individual property’s investment performance.

Within the Bendigo Property Market, rental demand, maintenance costs, tenant profile and future housing supply all remain important considerations.

First-Home Buyers Are Becoming More Important

One of the more important shifts identified in this Australia Weekly Property Market Report is the increasing influence of first-home buyers.

Mortgage applications from first-home purchasers reportedly rose by around 10% in early August. Investor activity, by comparison, remained relatively weak.

Government-backed low-deposit schemes have contributed to that demand, particularly for properties that fall within applicable price thresholds.

This provides useful context for the stronger Melbourne Unit Market results.

A decline in borrowing capacity does not necessarily mean a purchaser leaves the market altogether. In many cases, it simply changes what they can afford to buy.

Someone who may previously have targeted a $1 million house could instead consider a $750,000 townhouse or unit.

That movement down the price ladder supports lower-priced parts of the market even while metropolitan median values are falling. It is also relevant when assessing Melbourne Property Investment opportunities, particularly in segments where both first-home buyer and tenant demand remain important.

Vendor Sentiment

Vendors appear to be gradually returning to the market as spring approaches.

Auction volumes increased in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra this week, while Melbourne remained steady at 570 scheduled auctions.

Even with that increase, the number of auctions remains well below last year’s levels.

Melbourne’s 570 scheduled auctions compare with 943 in the corresponding week of 2025. Sydney recorded 631 this year compared with 914 a year earlier.

These figures suggest that sellers remain cautious.

Some are holding campaigns back until spring, while others are choosing private treaty instead of risking a visible auction failure.

For vendors considering selling their property, this creates an important strategic question. Waiting may bring a larger pool of buyers, but it will also mean competing with a greater number of Australian Property Listings.

The number and quality of Australian Property Listings entering the market through spring will therefore be an important test of whether improving buyer sentiment is strong enough to absorb additional stock.

Consumer Confidence Improves After RBA Pause

The Reserve Bank’s decision to keep the cash rate at 4.35% has led to a measurable improvement in household sentiment.

The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index increased 6% to 88.9 in August, marking its second consecutive monthly improvement.

The response among mortgage holders was stronger, with sentiment increasing by approximately 16%.

Meanwhile, the index measuring whether Australians believed it was a good time to buy a dwelling rose 12.1% to 95.7.

Despite those improvements, confidence remains below its long-term averages.

This is consistent with what the Australian Housing Market is showing through auction results.

Buyers appear more willing to transact than they were earlier in winter, but they have not returned to aggressive, fear-of-missing-out behaviour.

Interest Rates and Inflation Risk

While the RBA left the cash rate unchanged in August, the pause does not guarantee that the tightening cycle has ended.

Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser warned last week that further rate increases could still be required if inflation risks intensify.

He identified geopolitical conflict, the global artificial-intelligence investment boom and weak Australian productivity as potential upside risks to inflation.

Financial markets were still pricing a meaningful possibility of another increase before the end of the year.

For buyers following RBA Interest Rates Australia, the practical implication is that repayment buffers remain essential.

For vendors, current RBA Interest Rates Australia conditions also mean affordability is unlikely to improve dramatically in the immediate future.

Global Factors – Australia Weekly Property Market Report

Global economic conditions remain unusually relevant to the Australian Property Market.

Instability in the Middle East continues to create uncertainty around oil and energy prices. If energy costs rise, they can feed through to Australian inflation and potentially keep interest rates higher for longer.

At the same time, global capital continues to view Australian housing as a long-term investment opportunity, particularly because population growth and housing undersupply remain structural issues.

These forces are moving in opposite directions.

On one side, households face short-term affordability pressure. On the other, the Australian Property Market continues to operate against a backdrop of long-term housing scarcity.

That tension remains one of the defining features of current conditions.

Outlook for Spring

Spring will provide the clearest test yet of the conditions identified in this Australia Weekly Property Market Report.

The key issue will be the balance between new supply and buyer borrowing capacity.

If Australian Property Listings rise substantially while borrowing capacity remains constrained, purchasers could gain even more room to negotiate.

Melbourne appears relatively well positioned because vendor expectations have already adjusted significantly. Even so, the current 60% clearance rate will need to hold as the number of auctions increases.

The Sydney Housing Market remains vulnerable to affordability pressures.

Brisbane’s auction channel is clearly weak, although continued private-treaty demand may provide broader support.

The Adelaide Property Market and Perth retain favourable supply fundamentals, but both are moving away from the extreme seller conditions seen previously.

Within the Regional Victoria Property Market, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo should remain attractive to buyers looking for relative affordability. Performance, however, is likely to become increasingly dependent on the individual property.

That balance between more spring stock, constrained borrowing capacity and improving buyer sentiment will be central to the Property Market Forecast 2026.

For now, the Property Market Forecast 2026 remains one in which property selection and realistic pricing are likely to matter more than broad assumptions about market direction.

Actionable Insights

For vendors, the most important strategy remains pricing against recent settled evidence rather than relying on market conditions from early 2025.

A reserve based on early-2025 conditions risks losing qualified buyers who are making decisions based on today’s borrowing capacity.

Campaign strength should also be judged by meaningful buyer behaviour. Contract requests, repeat inspections and bidder registrations provide more useful signals than inspection numbers alone. Vendors should also have a clear post-auction negotiation strategy in place before auction day.

For buyers, the current environment continues to favour patient negotiation, particularly when dealing with withdrawn or passed-in campaigns.

That does not mean every property will be easy to secure. Affordable units and well-presented family homes can still attract strong bidding. Finance approval and due diligence should therefore be completed before auction day.

For investors, the priority should be sustainable rental demand and net returns rather than an assumption that broad capital growth will lift every property.

Lower-priced Melbourne units and selected regional markets may benefit from first-home buyer and tenant demand. Even so, tax, insurance, maintenance and financing costs need to be assessed carefully when considering Melbourne Property Investment.

The same applies to ongoing ownership. Rental demand needs to be considered alongside the practical costs of residential property management and maintaining an investment over time.

Owners assessing their rental strategy can also review Ham Kerr’s Melbourne property management services within the context of their own investment requirements.

Key Takeaways

This Australia Weekly Property Market Report points to an Australian Property Market that is becoming more active without returning to the seller-dominated conditions seen a year ago.

• Melbourne’s auction clearance rate edged up to 60.2%, with 570 auctions scheduled.
• The Melbourne combined auction median was $917,000, while houses recorded $967,500 and units $725,000.
• Units again outperformed houses on clearance rates, highlighting the growing importance of affordability and the difference between Melbourne House Prices and the lower entry point available through the Melbourne Unit Market.
• Sydney recorded a 58.1% clearance rate from 631 auctions, but its house auction median remained 7.1% below the same week last year.
• Brisbane recorded an exceptionally weak 20.8% clearance rate, while Domain reported 60 pass-ins from only 96 reported auctions.
• Adelaide recorded 50.7%, while Canberra fell to 43.7%.
• First-home buyer mortgage activity is strengthening while investor demand remains subdued.
• Consumer confidence improved after the RBA held rates, although the possibility of another rate rise has not disappeared.
• Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo remain comparatively resilient, but property selection and realistic pricing are becoming increasingly important.

Taken together, these results provide an Australian Property Market Update in which buyers are more willing to participate, yet remain highly sensitive to price, property quality and borrowing capacity.

FAQs

What is the Australia Weekly Property Market Report?
It is a weekly snapshot of auction activity, clearance rates, prices and buyer and vendor trends across Australia’s major property markets.

How did Australia’s property market perform in the week ending 23 August 2026?
Auction activity increased in most capitals, but the major-capital average clearance rate fell to 46.7%, compared with 51.8% the previous week and 66.9% a year earlier.

What were Melbourne’s auction results in August 2026?
Melbourne recorded 570 scheduled auctions, a 60.2% clearance rate and a combined median auction price of $917,000.

Are Melbourne units outperforming houses at auction?
Yes. Units recorded a 61.2% clearance rate, compared with 59% for houses, and have outperformed houses in three of the past four weeks.

What is happening in the Sydney property market?
Sydney remained relatively steady, with 631 auctions and a 58.1% clearance rate, although conditions were much weaker than a year earlier.

Why was Brisbane’s auction clearance rate so low?
Brisbane recorded a 20.8% clearance rate, with a high number of pass-ins. However, Brisbane is mainly a private-treaty market, so auction results represent only part of overall activity.

What does the RBA’s 4.35% cash rate mean for Australian property buyers?
The RBA’s decision to hold at 4.35% improved buyer sentiment, but borrowing capacity remains constrained and the possibility of another rate increase has not disappeared.

What is the Australian property market outlook for spring and the rest of 2026?
Spring will be a key test. If listings increase while borrowing capacity remains limited, buyers could gain more negotiating power, with performance becoming increasingly dependent on location, price and property quality.